TLN’s Post-Game Thoughts: Lakers vs. Hornets

Chris Paul had 19 points and 21 assists. Peja had 36 points on 10-13 three point shots. The defense just wasn’t there tonight. The Lakers had a very impressive second quarter led by Vlad’s three-point shooting, but Peja stung the Lakers with his outside shooting.

The Lakers defended the pick and roll pathetically. Farmar was consistently lost on Paul’s pick and rolls and our team couldn’t rotate to shooters when screens were set. Now, the bests of the night…

Top 3 Laker performers:

1) Kobe Bryant did the best he could to keep us in the game. He scored 28 points on 11-20 shooting to go with 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocks. He basically had a great game all around. I’m surprised that Phil only played him 37 minutes considering Lamar is out and they don’t play again until Friday.

2) Andrew Bynum is consistently making my top 3. Tonight he had 8 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks. You might think this isn’t very impressive, but he did this all off the bench and against one of the best rebounders in the NBA, Tyson Chandler.

3) While Vlad hit many big shots, he got lost too often on D and had 3 unforced turnovers. Instead Turiaf earns #3 as he put up 15 points on 7-12 shooting and 7 rebounds. He also had some energetic dunks and was one of the few Lakers who rotated well on defense.

Lakers Smush of the Day(Note: STD denotes the Laker that played the poorest):

I can’t believe I am giving someone 3 consecutive STD’s. Brian Cook yet again let me down. He shot 1-4 including 0-3 wide open 3-pointers. Cook needs to make those shots to be worth anything. His box score was zeros across except for the rebound he had. Come back Lamar and save us from seeing Cook out there!

Key play of the game: Farmar’s And1 at the end of the first quarter. With one second left, Farmar threw up a prayer and got fouled by Bobby Jackson.

What to look for next game: Look for a young team that likes to run. Should be a fast paced game. Don’t underestimate their inside game however. Al Jefferson is the real deal!

Game is Fri night @ 7:30 PM (Let me know if you need tickets, I have some season tickets I am selling for face value of $28 to TLN fans).

Well i said it before and i will say it again…When odom comes back(lets pray for Friday)..THE STD had better be on the IR list and Critter in the line up..I would give him up for a 5th round NFL pick

steve

Paxson has to have Mitch on speed dial already..0 and 4..The bulls have some issues

myriam

The team did their best. And the opponent outplayed our team. Glad to see that nobody blame somebody for our team loss.

fatty

Injuries played a key role in the Lakers loss.
Two starters not playing and our #8 man, MO hurt.

Kwame was replaced by Mihm. Mihm was a step slow in blocking the middle. Our wing man trying to help clog the middle left a hot Peja wide open for easy three’s.

Injuries hurt last year and hurting us again. Our slow rotations were exposed by Chris Paul.

Some guys are getting too many minutes because of injuries and are making mistakes. Its like they are out of place at both ends of the floor. Everyone has a role, but some are being asked to do stuff they are not used to doing.

This Western Conference is going to be tough. Not many easy games on the schedgule. If you have a weakness on a particular night, you will be exposed.

Shaq786

i really hope you start taking defense more into account man, last time kobe should have been number one and this time farmar should have been 3rd… v.rad’s defense was wack he was being put iin the popcorn machine so many times

David

We may have lost, but we lost to a better team. What matters is we played good basketball and didn’t give the game away. Chris Paul was just too much for our guards to handle consistently breaking down our D. Considering the fact we played without Lamar, kwame, and evans, this Laker team will make some noise this year given it can stay healthy.

foxxy

HEALTHY .. IS THE KEY WORD….SOMEBODY IS ALWAYS HURTIN….WHATS UP WITH THAT?????????????? TIRED OF IT ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jenn

I was at the game last night and well we finally got ahead in the third quarter and I thought we had it…until Peja started knoking down those three’s. Man..do they do pick and roll after pick and roll..its seriously non stop and lakers need to practice that over and over again. But we would have been right there if it wasnt for peja so dont be too hard on them its only four games into the season. but seriously cook really REALLy needs to go… we had no lamar, kwame, and mo last night.. LAMAR PLEASE HURRY ANND COME BACK!

http://myspace.com/lakersdynasty999 Steve Avery

[Comment ID #16521 Will Be Quoted Here]

If you read it all, you would see i did take defense into account. I said Vlad would get #3, but his D was poor so Turiaf got it. Farmar also was held out due to his poor defense.

I thought kobe played great help D tonight. 3 blocks will show that.

Nabil

Foxxy, its rare for a team NOT to have someone injured. Don’t cry about it.

r3dempti0n

[Comment ID #16526 Will Be Quoted Here]

It’s probably from all your yelling.

http://myspace.com/lakersdynasty999 Steve Avery

[Comment ID #16530 Will Be Quoted Here]

hahah

RoWyN

I know the team is off to a great start (despite the loss). But this is the case every beginning of the season for the past few years. So I hope, they can keep it up this time around.

If there is one thing that concerns me, it’s the inconsistency of play level the team’s offered historically. I know every NBA team gets bad nights, but the Lakers of the last two years were the most inconsistent. At one night they would show glimpses as a top 4 West Conference team, and at others like they belong to where the Blazers dwell. I HOPE THIS IS ONE PART OF THE TEAM’S GAME THAT CAN BE IMPROVED. Losses will come (even the best teams lose to the Hawks). But, it’s fine as long as it’s a legit loss and not a give-away.

The two Lakers losses this year are legit one, though there were glimpses of inconsistencies. Against the Rockets, they’ve gave it away after starting great. Good thing they tried to get it back in the end. I don’t blame them, I blame Battier. And last night, they got out-coached. That Hornets defense was annoying. It was so tight that it seemed like they got more players on the court. They also missed Kwame’s presence in the middle.

Sidenote: They got to stop handing out career nights to their opponents! They did that quite a bit last year as well.

steve

Odom does have geat length to guard guys like Peja..And force Peja to be more accountable on the other end..That would help

MILO

[Comment ID #16520 Will Be Quoted Here]

Fatty, i really think Mhim is not ready to be a starter, i think Phil should have started Bynum even if he eventualy fouled out, he provides more rebounding and offense.It looks like Mhim can barely get off the floor.Phil put Kobe and Bynum in too late in the fourth, maybe if he would have put them in at the 8 minute mark it would have made a diference???What is wrong with Kwame???I hope nothing serious???Please fill me in!

PHANTOM

the team defense was pathetic last night. how many times was peja wide open? and paul in the lane? fish looked like smush last night on the d side

fatty

This is what injuries do to a team.

Steve brought out the difference a Lamar would have made. Better D on Peja and a real match up problem for NO. Peja couldn’t keep up with Luke, Odom would have owned him.

Kwame’s injury? Still looking for answers myself. Apperantly the Lakers knew he wasn’t going to play on Monday and kept it from we the fans and NO.

LakerNation1

i thought we did okay last night. i mean, they were clearly the better team, but we couldve had it. yes we couldve….

but peja, my gosh. raining three pointers. every time he touched the ball and was outside the arch, u knew it was gonna go in. that was scary shooting.

wilzuvsteel

Defense lost it for the Lakers last night. Phil knows that we were down a few guys so it seems like he wanted to see what his team was made of. It’s a long season and I’d hate to wearout Kobe and starters just to get a win. That will not work as we saw last year wearing out Kobe on those 50pt games. If Phil is unable to get these guys to play smarter then its time to get rid of them. Kobe never has been the reason this team is not succeeding. But I’d rather we lose from the 3pt line than down in the paint. But last night we lost from the paint, midrange, and long distance. Plus we only shot 9 freethrows? It sounds like we weren’t penetrating enough and no low post presence. Bynum, Walton, Mihm, Fisher,Rad, Cook,had no freethrows and were a combined 20-46 from the field. That’s a lot of shots not to have any freethrows. And from this group that didn’t shoot freethrows they shot 4-12 from 3pt land. So Peja’s shooting virtually wiped out Walton, Fisher, Rad, & Cooks pt production of a combined 29pts to Peja’s 30pts just from 3pt land alone. 3pt happy Lakers and no freethrows. Shades of last year creeping in again. Phil I’m sure learned alot from this loss and this is how most teams will probably attack the Lakers. Penetrate and kick out for open 3s or open midrange jumpers. But for the elite teams they’ll just get Bynum & Turiaf in foul trouble and there goes your inside presence and offensive options. Kwame is limited but teams I’m sure would rather have him with his poor shooting and turnover prone habits. The Lakers to be successful need everyone to be healthy. Nobody’s a franchise player so they need everyones output.

RoWyN

About Peja last night, Luke did a really good job on him early on when he was close to him (anybody who wants to watch it again, see how he bothers the shooters elbow and change the shot.) He was off for the first few minutes of the game. It was Radman who let Peja find his rhythm by leaving him open. And when he turned it on, it was on. I got pissed with Radman too when he tried to compete with Peja by trying to do a shootout. He should’ve stayed on his perimeter and made sure he didn’t get more shots instead. I gotta give Vlade props tho’ for making some sweet threes.

steve

Kwame has BURSTITIS…its when a small sack of fluid forms to protect an injured part of the body..They can be very painful and take a while to heal if removed..not a bad injury but if left untreated can be very painful..Im not a doctor but a player on our local AFL team had one and missed 3 weeks of play

LakerNation1

sounds pretty disturbing to have =X heres to a speedy recovery Kwame!

steve

The reason it could become a problem is this….If its on one of his feet (often the heel) it makes it hard land on

kb24mvp

it wasnt fishes fault entireley on paul the refs got him into foul trouble early alot of his fouls were bogus!

http://myspace.com/lakersdynasty999 Steve Avery

[Comment ID #16544 Will Be Quoted Here]

i think fisher did a decent job…farmar was chasing cp3 and bobby jackson all night…need to stay in front of him!

MILO

Fatty, Steve, thank you!!!

Y’all have lost it…

I really think this “fan” page has taken a turn for the worse. The posting of Laker related articles found in other publications is a great source, but these poorly written fan analysis articles are pure garbage. Whoever is writing these articles should at least have more-than-average basketball knowledge. I don’t think one dude’s opinion of the game holds any value if he doesn’t see the game from an educated perspective. This site has turned into a vehicle for naive fans to share their ignorant views. And maybe that’s cool for those of you who regularly visit this site, but you have definitely lost the ears of the grown Laker fans. Maybe it is time for Kobe to move on…y’all don’t deserve him anymore. One.

nyla

I don’t know if this was a post already, but this was from Gilbert’s blog yesterday.

“When I mentioned the trade requests of Kobe Bryant, with whom Arenas was linked in a recently rumored proposal that was instantly shot down by the Wizards, he shut his eyes and shook his head, tsk, tsk.

What I meant by understand him, I meant “understand greatness.” It’s easy for me to say, “Why do you want to leave?” For me looking at the situation as a fan, it’s like, you’re dominant. You’re a dominant player. You wanted your own team. You wanted to be the man and carry your team to the Promised Land by yourself. You wanted to show the world you can do it. Now you’ve had three bad years. I shouldn’t say that. Truthfully, I didn’t consider them bad. For what you had, you brought a team that everybody had in last place to the playoffs in 2005-06 and that should have been your MVP. I counted him as my MVP because he took a team that everybody said wasn’t going to make the playoffs and he took them to the playoffs and almost beat a great Suns team that had something like 55 wins that year.

That’s why I say, I don’t understand because as a player, you’re going to go through years like that. In Boston, Paul Pierce said the other day, “I’ve been here for 10 years and some of them have been grueling, rebuilding years. Years you want to give it up. But I hung in there and look what I have now.” I understand you want to get another ring but, come on. You are the Lakers. You are L.A. Why leave a city that everybody identifies you with just to go somewhere else. It’s like what I was saying when Reggie Miller was talking about coming back. I don’t want to see you come back and put on another uniform. Come on, you’re a Pacer. Everyone can’t win a championship. Not everyone is that blessed. You left this league and gave us memories. You did your job.

Shaq786

turiaf needs to shoot the ball more and ask for rock more too… he does good with the ball

LakerNation1

nyla, thats a great read. i totally agree with that full heartedly. thats what i call LOGIC. gilbert arenas wrote that???? wow…

fatty

Few players can play and star in the same city for their entire career. Kobe is the man in LA. This is the city where many of the NBA’s best wish they could play. A career with the Lakers is not like playing in Minnie.
To call Jack Nicholson and other celebs your friends is special. No other team can offer all that and the history of the Lakers, which Kobe has been a major part of.
To walk away from LA to start another career in some obscure place really doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Kobe has the best contract, the best situation, of any player in the NBA could ever dream and hope for.
Yeah, the Management has gone south. They went from the best, to one of the strangest. But hey, its Hollywood, it comes with the territory.
We still have the best coach. Scott Skiles is no Phil Jackson.
We absolutely have the best fans.
Kobe needs to age with dignity and stay in one place. What an opportunity this has been and can continue to be for him. Learn from the lesson of Shaq who’s growing old and alone in a strange place.

Y’all have lost it…

You can’t be serious? Kobe has “the best situation of any player in the NBA could ever dream and hope for”?? Kobe is a basketball player, determined to win. The city in which a player plays may be important to some degree, but to a comepetitive beast like Kobe, winning is much more important. So Los Angeles may be nice and it may have a unique population of celebrities, but that has nothing to do with basketball. Kobe wants to compete for a championship with a competent supporting cast and a serviceable front office. “Comes with the territory”?? Even more reason to relocate. There is no need for the best player on the planet to limit the extent of his greatness, just because he once chose to play for the Lakers. The team’s skill level has fallen off, and management has lost any focus it ever had on winning; those are reasons relevant to basketball success. Chicago is a sufficiently large market that actually has the tools to provide Kobe what he is looking for: success. “The best fans”?? You’re telling me Kobe wouldn’t want 22,000 Chicago fans screaming his name? Oh wait, they already are. “Learn a lesson from Shaq…growing old and alone in a strange place”?? That might be the most ignorant statement you’ve made yet. Shaq left, won another championship, and added to his legacy. A strange place to you maybe, but that pulls no weight as an actual reason for Kobe to remain in L.A.. Miami is a beautiful city and I guarantee you Shaq is not lonely. C’mon dude, grow up, and open your eyes. The Lakers have turned into a disgraceful organization and it’s time for Kobe to move on.

fatty

Post Practice interview from PJ.

Kwame is day to day. Stayed off his feet today. Not belived to be serious.

Mo will not play Friday. Not serious, they just want the inflamation to go down and have him rest to get on top of his back problem during slow period.

Lamar will play on Friday. PJ said he will probally replace Luke as a starter at the 3. Then cover for Ronny at the 4 sometimes during the game. (does that mean no Cookie?)We can only pray.

LakerNation1

yes! my man LAMAR retutns…

and please, no more cook. last night, he tooks some shots that he shouldnt have taken. i try to support the guy bc hes a laker, but hes getting into smush level where at times i cant stand the guy.

http://myspace.com/lakersdynasty999 Steve Avery

LO Show is back!

steve

The hawks played very well…..and Boston are giving the nuggets a lesson

fatty

Obviously, Y’all don’t know what you are talking about.

Gilbert Arenas brought up a very good point about where you play and what it can do for your career. LA is the place to be and has been. Check out those banners. Unlike let’s say PHX who has none. This town has a history second to none. Of course always room for more.

The Lakers not committed to winning? We have the best coach the NBA has ever seen and pay him $10 mil a year.

Chicago a winner? Have they even won a game? As all experts agree, a Kobe trade to Chicago would decimate their team and take years to rebuild. So why would Kobe want to take on a losing situation? He doesn’t, or haven’t you heard?

Shaq in Miami. Have you seen him play this year? Its sad to watch the old fat guy on the court. The Miami fans feel they are getting ripped off paying 20 mil a year for that. Even his coach feels he’s overpaid. He’s treated terribly by his home town. He ain’t a happy camper, is he?

Obviously you are not a Laker fan, but if you want to come and visit us anytime you are more than welcome to come and share your incredible basketball knowledge. I’ve never seen such wisdom displayed by a blogger and am trully amazed. Maybe you should take your computer, put it in front of a mirror and type comments. Then you could really find and admire someone that is your equal.

steve

Thank you FATTY..well said

nyla

I’m so glad Buss refused to pay Shaq. He’s been looking awful!!

Y’all have lost it…

Well, I didn’t expect the two of you to get so worked up over your little articles. The point remains that your ill-substantiated “argument” holds no value. As a player, Kobe should be more concerned with creating history as opposed to dwelling on what has already occured. The Lakers are without question one of the most historically successful sports franchises. However, their recent moves (or lack thereof) have clearly brought doubt on their ability to sustain that status. Offering Jax $10 million/year is by no means commitment; commitment to franchise success goes well beyond a coach’s salary. If Chicago were to trade for Kobe, it could potentially decimate their team. It could also potentially take them from being a quality team to a championship contender. Irrespective of how it could turn out, no trade has been made. So until a trade actually happens, we have no idea what the resulting Chicago squad would look like. The opinions of those experts whom you love to reference are nothing more than speculation. Kobe holds the veto-power, and we are all aware that he will not agree to a trade that would put him in a similar or worse position. As for Shaq, he is indeed growing old. But what does that have to do with Miami being a lonely and strange place? If Shaq were still in L.A., he would still be less skilled, and he would still be the “old fat guy.” As players age, their abilities become limited–that’s basketball. Read today’s ESPN feature on Shaq. Whether Kobe stays or leaves, he will continue to age. That is precisely the reason it is in his best interest to leave earlier rather than later; he can allow himself the opportunity to succeed while he’s still capable of performing at a high level. As for those wity personal attacks of yours, they just show how transparent your insecurity is. Hide behing the veil of your website, pretend to have a meaningful voice, and stand by the support of your groupies. None of that will change the fact that you are misguided, miseducated, and poorly informed of this basketball reality. Maybe you and Steve should go write an article together, make it a “we are the world” inspired piece, hold hands, and convince each other that your views actually hold purpose. Y’all just keep embarassing yourselves…

lakerfan81

Everyone keeps talking about the Lakers FO lacking a “commitment to winning”. But how to you define and measure a “commitment to winning”? Is it by how well the team does? How much money they spend? The trades the team makes? What if you have a “commitment to winning” but don’t know how to build a team that can compete? All the desire to win won’t equate to much if you don’t know how to put the necessary pieces together. Boston traded all their young cheap pieces for three players with max contracts. They are now going to be paying a huge amount of money in luxury tax for the next 3 or more years. Does this mean that Boston has a bigger “commitment to winning” than Phoenix. Phoenix traded Kurt Thomas their best interior defender (whom they are going to miss come playoff time against the Spurs) and draft picks to save money. Does that demonstrate a lack of “commitment to winning”.

How exactly do you measure someones desire and commitment? You can question the FO’s judgment and decision making, but you can’t know that they lack a “commitment to winning”. Is Buss using Kobe to sell tickets and get sponsors. Of course its a business, and he has done pretty well since he bought the team. The team is worth $501 million dollars(for comparison the Knicks are worth $494 million). How can you say that Chicago has a commitment to winning but LA doesn’t. Has Chicago made better basketball decisions in recent years? Yes. But isn’t it more likely that just reflects that Paxson is better at his job than Kupchak and Jim Buss are. Reinsdorf is notorious for being cheap. He had problems with Scottie Pippen for that very reason and traded him breaking up the Jordan/Pippen dynasty. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to win it just means that he is running a business.

Couldn’t the lack of improvement and not being making the Lakers a contender be from a lack of direction and overall ineptitude of the FO rather than be from a lack of a “commitment to winning”.

lakerfan81

“He had problems with Scottie Pippen for that very reason and traded him breaking up the Jordan/Pippen dynasty.” That is supposed to say “almost traded him breaking up…”

Y’all have lost it…

Lakerfan81, I think you make a good point. But I believe the Lakers’ “lack of direction and overall ineptitude of the FO” is a product of their lack of commitment to winning. Part of the responsibility of running an organization is employing those best suited to help you achieve your goals. If Jerry Buss is in indeed commited to winning, then shouldn’t he also be committed to putting together a capable front office? Is Paxson better at his job than Kupchak? Most definitely. But who should be held accountable for the fact that the Lakers personnel decisions are being made by Mitch and Jim? If you identify a weakness or a fault that is preventing the organization from moving in a successful direction, then you need to act accordingly and rectify the situation. Of course the Lakers are worth more now than what they were when Buss purchased the team in 1979. Like I’ve said, the Lakers were successful for quite some time. But how is that relevant to the current situation? The Lakers should be interested in continuing that success. An important aspect of generating club revenue is the success of the team. The better a team performs, the farther a team progresses into the playoffs, the more money the team will make. It’s that simple. The Lakers earn huge revenues, but could they not earn more? Just because the Lakers organization generates some revenue does not mean it is generating as much as it could. Lakersfan81, I think your point only reinforces mine: being committed to winning means being committed in all respects.

MILO

[Comment ID #16563 Will Be Quoted Here]

I’d like to add to this, I personaly think that the NBA has been out to prove a point to Kobe.They have had a vendetta with him ever since that woman in Colorado pulled that get rich scheme on him.Seriously, i think the officials are responsible for Shaq getting his ring first then Kobe it was’nt just a fluke.I mean look at Miami now, even with D-Wade i still think they will remain a lousy team this year.Remember there is still an on-going investigation on the crooked NBA officials whom we still are not completely safe from.So please dont bring up Shaq, everyone knows that it was more then just a fluke…

fatty

Y’all have lost it…(that’s your name you chose)lol

I made a comment. That’s all. But you came back with rude and disrespectful remarks to me and others. I love spirited debate on the blog. I know the moderaters do as well. What we don’t like is people coming on and for no reason trash other people.

Whenever I get someone like you. I sometimes respond in like, using the same type of words they use, to try and teach them it doesn’t lead to good discussion.

I can see it hurt your feelings very much so, and I’m sorry for that. If you want to be respectful of others, you are most welcome to debate and discuss. Remember, people can have two very different opinions and neither may be wrong, nor right. There just opinions, that’s all.

Why are you so set that this Laker team is not good, and can become a very good team possibly with the personel we have? Coach Jackson stated he’s very encouraged with this team.

Let’s see, the Lakers have the best player, the best coach, and are growing as a team. Sounds like a committment to winning to me. Its only been three years since the team has been to the finals. A goal most NBA teams never meet. We just stubbed our toe with a bunch of injuries last year. Give us two months, to see where we are in progressing, then make a trade or a FA signing for the play off push.

ab4sure

[Comment ID #16584 Will Be Quoted Here]

Do you think MJ is committed to winning? How did he do in Washington? How is he doing in Charlotte? Maybe abit too early, but the point is committment to winning doesn’t necessarily mean success right away. I agree with Lakerfan81 in almost everything he wrote, he made some good points. But I also have to disagree and probably most of lakernation disagrees with me that Mitch Kupchak has done a fair job and the real test will be in the next two years with how the young talent progresses. From my advantage point, Bynum, farmar, critt, along with turiaf and luke are going to determine his success. Those of you who will write and say Mitch is stupid..trading butler for Kwame..don’t write because I can give you numerous errors that each GM has made. Instead of bitching on Mitch…I believe they will be thanking him…I have already seen it on the shoutbox from knowledgable basketball addicts.

ab4sure

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And furthermore, President Bush planned 9/11. It is all a conspiracy. And Kobe will never get another ring. The NBA doesn’t want that to happen….Please…….stop with the conspiracies.

MILO

Ab4sure, thats exactly the reaction i got from people before the officials gambleing scandle finaly came to light and yes i was right so thank you for you’re sarchasm but i realy dont need it.

ab4sure

as far as the one official who was trying to fix games, that has been done throughout sports, as far as the league planning a conspiracy so that one player won’t win a ring that is a bit far fetched.

Y’all have lost it…

Now that is really disappointing. I submit my response to Fatty’s last comment and then y’all go and refuse to post it. It was a short, well articulated comment that did not include any profanity or offensive language. Yet to your convenience, you neglected to post it. Why is that? It’s quite sad that you and your groupies have resorted to such selective censorship…

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With the Lakers off to a poor start, trade rumors have begun to swirl around Kobe Bryant, leading many to speculate if he'll leave for greener pastures. Kobe puts those rumors to rest in his interview with Yahoo Sports.

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With the Lakers off to a poor start, trade rumors have begun to swirl around Kobe Bryant, leading many to speculate if he'll leave for greener pastures. Kobe puts those rumors to rest in his interview with Yahoo Sports.